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While maths exam scores are up among England's students, their actual understanding of maths concepts has not changed in three decades, according to research. "Although performance in some areas has improved, it looks as if, when all the results are analysed, there will be little evidence for the sort of step-change in mathematical attainment which might be suggested by the claimed improvements in examination results," researchers said.

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Math lessons emphasizing rote memorization may contribute to math anxiety for some students, suggest three Stanford researchers. In a recent paper, they share strategies to help boost math fluency and de-emphasize rote memorization in the classroom.

Obesity rates in U.S. teens whose parents obtained a college education declined between 2003 and 2010-2011, falling to between 7% and 11%, but increased in 2010 to between 26% and 29% among adolescents who came from less-affluent families, data showed. Researchers also found that more teens from higher-income families engaged in physical activity and consumed fewer calories in 2011 compared with their poorer counterparts. The results appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers at the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have listed unproven assumptions and myths about dieting in a report that finds science does not back up many long-held ideas about physical education, crash diets, quick fixes, motivation and even daily weigh-ins. Other obesity experts applauded the report in The New England Journal of Medicine, including Madelyn Fernstrom of the University of Pittsburgh Weight Management Center, who said ideas about obesity are "spinning out of control.”

Fifth-graders attending schools in which teachers used the Responsive Classroom teaching method performed better on state math and reading exams than other students, researchers say. The social-emotional-learning approach focuses on how teachers' language and expectations can help students with social and emotional learning. Researchers say that of the 24 Virginia elementary schools in a three-year study, the schools that were most committed to using Responsive Classroom practices showed 23-point gain on state standardized tests.

Students at Indiana charter schools make more academic progress in a school year than do their peers at traditional schools, a new study suggests. Although another recent report found charter school students score about the same as their public-school counterparts, the new research found charter students improved 18% more in math, 22% more in reading and 25% more in language arts than similar students in traditional public schools.